Post-2017 nearly all itemized deductions flow to the wealthiest ten percent

Evidence

Repealing all existing deductions has a similar effect, and is likely to have the greatest impact on only the wealthiest taxpayers. Remember, as we saw in chapter 2, taxpayers in the highest-income zip codes have historically claimed the most deductions, while taxpayers in lower-income zip codes typically take only the standard deduction. Before the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, about two-thirds of taxpayers took the standard deduction; now that number is closer to 90 percent, and the remaining 10 percent is statistically likely to be the wealthiest Americans. — Dorothy A. Brown, The Whiteness of Wealth, 523

Categorization

• SHARE: Nerdy tax-mechanics tidbit — that only 10% now itemize post-TCJA, and they are statistically the wealthiest — worth sending to a tax-policy friend.